Individual
Projects are designed to be less time-consuming for a student whose
schedule does not permit working on a team-based project but wishes to receive
a letter grade and one credit unit. Students working on an individual
project must meet with the course instructor during the second week of classes
to discuss and agree upon the specifics of the project. Also see
Required Course and Individual Project
Activities.

General Information on
Individual Projects

Focus on one of these activities that
relate to or would potentially benefit an older adult or individual with a
disability:

Research an assistive technology
topic - report on new products and research under
development.

Pursue a "paper design" of an
assistive technology device - develop a CAD design or a "low resolution"
physical device built from foam-core or other prototyping
material.

Create a work of art -
create an original poem, song, skit, painting, or video. (This option would be
of particular interest to students who have skills and expertise other than
engineering.)

Engage in an aftermarket
aesthetic design - select an existing assistive product that could benefit
from a better appearance, contact the manufacturer, and work with a user of the
device to improve its aesthetic appeal.

Engage in an aftermarket
functionality / usability design - select an existing assistive product
that could benefit from a better functionality or usability, contact the
manufacturer, and work with a user of the device to improve its functionality
or usability.

Background: Jessa is an
extremely active 8 year old girl who happens to have one leg and a twin sister
who she constantly chases.

Problem: When Jessa's family
vacationed at the beach over the holidays, Jessa used a "regular beach
wheelchair". It didn't fit in the car, was not able to be independently
propelled, and was too tall to access the sand or water, interfering with her
ability to make sand castles and look for shells and stones.

Aim: Explore designs for a
wheeled mobility device that would allow Jessa to explore the beach and engage
in typical beach activities.

Background: Solomon is an
18-month old child from Foster City with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a
condition of the skin that causes it to be fragile and easily injured, forming
painful blisters - a serious problem if they subsequently become
infected.

Solomon's father explains further:
"The problem is shear stress. Skin is basically a composite material, and for
these kids, the 'glue' between two of the layers is weak or non-existent. In
Solomon's case, the defect is at the lowest layer, and the glue is weak. We use
additional layers of clothes to help absorb shear stress for him. For example,
Solomon wears a tight layer of soft cotton undergarments at all times, called
Skinnies, which cover his entire body from neck to toe. On his knees and
elbows, he then wears soft pads. Then over these garments he wears socks,
pants, and a long sleeve shirt, and cotton gloves on his hands. Together, this
system reduces the shear stress able to reach his skin and reduces the
likelihood for injury."

"However this solution is not
perfect. For example, should we be using a tight layer made of Lycra rather
than cotton? How would that affect the shear stress reaching his skin and his
temperature regulation? Hard knee and elbow pads like skateboarders use would
be great for him, but the straps to hold these pads in place are likely to cut
him. How could we modify these straps to be effective? These are the types of
engineering questions that could yield real benefits for Solomon and the many
kids, and adults, like him."

Problem: Solomon does not
have large areas of wounds on his body because his parents don't allow him to
engage in play activities for fear that he will get injured. But Solomon
desperately wants to play with his 5 year-old brother and other kids: running,
climbing, and doing other things a child of that age typically does.

Aim: Explore design concepts
to provide Solomon with protection during normal play
activities.

"Last week I met with eight
caregivers (mothers of children with autism) about you (Alexandra Berrio) and
your organization's (Assistive Labs) assistive aid. Six have children with
moderate to severe levels of autism who do not have verbal communication
skills. The mothers shared a shocking revelation with me that they lead
socially isolated lives. They do not attend any social activities such
marriages & birthday parties, visit relatives and neighbors' houses during
the festival season, dine in restaurants, go to the market, etc. Other family
members may attend these events, but the mothers, who are the main caregivers
of their autistic children, can't attend. In public, their children exhibit the
following behaviors:"

Sometimes they become
destructive: breaking glasses and hitting others. (This may be a sensory
issue.)

They exhibit unwanted behaviors
such as taking food from another's plate or licking objects.

"People nearby object to these
activities and complain. For these reasons, the caregivers lead socially
isolated lives caring for their autism children."

"There are many games and apps for
children, but none specifically for autistic children. These children do like
gadgets, but they face challenges using them. Most of them provide too much
stimulation and require a high level of concentration, making them difficult to
use. The parents want a device to occupy their children when they attend social
activities. During that time, the children should be fully engaged with the
device so they don't misbehave. The device should be:"

Background:The Magical Bridge Playground in Palo
Alto is the nation's first fully accessible and socially inclusive playground
designed specifically for children with disabilities as well as children of
parents who have a disability.

Problem: The current
offering of wheelchair accessible swings does not provide a means for the child
with limited arm strength to independently get into the swing or control its
motion.

Aim: Explore CAD and/or
scaled designs that would allow this population to enjoy swinging independently
and safely.

Background:Nearpod is a mobile learning platform
that helps teachers deliver instruction using iPads (and other mobile devices)
in the classroom. It combines interactive presentation, collaboration, and
real-time assessment tools into one integrated solution.

1.
Lesson Design for a Grade School Student with a Disability

Problem: Teachers strive to
provide all their students with the best possible classroom learning
experiences. Unfortunately, teachers typically design their lessons for a
general student population, overlooking the needs of students with
disabilities.

Aim: Develop lesson
guidelines and examples for a grade school student with a disability using
Nearpod.

Design Process:

connect with a Special Education
teacher

identify a particular student
with a disability

research best practices in
lesson design for this disability

create new or modify existing
lessons appropriate for the grade, topic, and disability

receive feedback from the
Special Education teacher on lesson's the effectiveness

compose a guideline document for
developing educational lessons for this disability as a part of project
report

Other: The project is not
intended to address the computer access needs of students who are blind or deaf
or those with mobility impairments that challenge their ability to respond to
lessons: entering text, drawing, or making choices on the
display.

2.
VR for Enhanced Instruction

Employ
Nearpod's virtual reality headset
to create an enhanced immersive educational instruction experience for grade
school students with disabilities. Examples include i) adding audio or another
sensory component to the current VR experience and ii) developing a life skills
curriculum for tasks such as going grocery shopping, using public
transportation, getting money from the bank, etc. Please reference Nearpod's
partnership with 360 cities to understand the current offering.

3.
VR for Improved Empathy

Use
Nearpod's virtual reality headset
to create an immersive educational experience that would allow grade school
students without disabilities to better empathize with those with disabilities.
Simulate what it might be like to live with a specific disability or
impairment.

4.
Vision Impairment Simulator

Develop an app that simulates a
variety of selected visual impairments in real time using a smartphone
camera.

Survey power wheelchair users to
identify desirable features and capabilities that could be incorporated into
future wheelchair designs. Include both wheelchair and user safety items as
well as information about the surrounding infrastructure and route being
traveled.

Background: Thirty years
ago, voice recognition systems were in their infancy. A typical system cost
$3000 and required considerable user training to recognize just a few words.
Today, the cost of these devices has fallen sharply while the performance has
improved greatly.

Aim: Explore an application
for a person with a disability using an inexpensive voice recognition product.
Examples include enhanced computer control and accessibility for those with
limited manipulation abilities, control of household appliances (lights, TV,
music system), and operation of a hospital
bed.

Design Criteria: The device
should be appropriate for the user's abilities and be simple to configure and
use.

Problem: Wheelchair users
who walk their dogs need to clean up after them. Limited hand / arm strength
and reduced mobility can affect the dog owner's ability to successfully perform
both the collection and bagging portions of this task.

Aim: Explore designs for a
pooper scooper system that will be easy for pet owners with a disability to
use.

Design Criteria: The
improved scooper design can employ commercially available components, but must
be simple in design, lightweight, convenient to store on the wheelchair, easy
to use by pet owners with limited hand / arm movement, and inexpensive to
fabricate.

Background: Kinect is a 3D
motion sensing input device designed for the Xbox 360 video game console and
Windows PCs. It enables users to control and interact with computers wirelessly
and hands-free, through a natural user interface using full body gestures and
spoken commands.

Aim: Explore an application
for a person with a disability using the Kinect Controller product. Examples
include enhanced computer control and accessibility for those with limited
manipulation abilities, physical therapy coach, control of household appliances
(lights, TV, music system), operation of Bluetooth devices (iPhone), and
implementation of an on-screen keyboard.

Design Criteria: The device
should be appropriate for the user's abilities and be simple to configure and
use.

Other: For this project,
Microsoft will make available 1 or 2 "older" Kinect sensor bars which can be
used with the companion SDK for Windows.

Problem: Older adults often
find it difficult to perform everyday household tasks such as hanging curtains,
fixing household devices, cleaning windows, ironing, and making the
bed.

Aim: Explore device designs
that are capable of improving or restoring the ability of older adults to
attend to daily household tasks, especially the most basic ones such as making
the bed and ironing.

Design Criteria: The design
should be intuitive and safe to use, highly reliable, lightweight, and easy to
handle, clean, and store.

Problem: For older adults to
remain in their current housing (as they desire), they must be able to
independently maintain the cleanliness of their house, including its shower,
bathtub, sink, and toilet. While there are numerous cleaning products on the
market, none adequately addresses the problem. [What are some of their
limitations?]

A bracket design for new power
wheelchairs that would allow use of an overhead sling system

A bracket system for power
wheelchairs that would work with a mobile arm support system

A device that would allow a high
level quadriplegia (C4) to use a digital camera. It need not be able to adjust
position of camera, but it should include a feature to snap a photo for users
with diminished hand function.

Aim: Perform an accessibility survey and analysis of a new
Stanford building. (This project might best be accomplished by two students
performing surveys of two buildings - one doing the measuring, the other
recording and swapping roles between buildings.)

Customize a Cane or Walker or
Wheelchair

Aim: Explore ways to add a personal aesthetic to a user's
cane, walker, or wheelchair.

Meet with the course instructor
to discuss and agree upon the specifics of the project. Interview, observe, and
discuss assistive technology problems with an individual with a disability or
older adult. Address their desire to participate in one of the following
activities by designing an adaptation to an existing device / tool or creating
a new, more useful one.